Pediatric Collections: Social Determinants of Health - Part 2: Effects of Inequity Doody's Expert Review Review Questionnaire ISBN: 9781610026369 ISBN-10: 1610026365 Copyright: 2022 Edition: 1st Author: AAP, Doody's Expert Review    Score: 94 Doody's Star Rating™ and Doody's Expert Review provide by Doody Enterprises, Inc. Reviewer: Ellyn Cavanagh,  PhD, MN,BSN  (Tender Care Pediatric Services, Inc.) Description This is the second book in a three-part series published by the American Academy of Pediatrics addressing the inequities in pediatric health care. The topics cover a broad range from institutional and individual racism to implicit biases in research and management of children in clinical care. The introduction constructively confronts the situation of foundational inequity in American society with racism as a social determinant of health -- in schools, neighborhoods, clinics, and the practice and teaching of medicine. Some problems discussed in the book are more critical than others, such as housing and food security, adolescent suicide rates, diagnosis of autism in all minority children, and education. Purpose The book's purpose is to clearly express the scientific review of racism and discrimination in the United States specific to children and families. The guide is formatted to present the most recent knowledge, updated research, and current policy recommendations to address poverty-related social needs in clinical practice. The goal is to reduce the effects of the social determinants of health (SDOH). This is a worthy goal and the objectives are met with peer-reviewed science conducted by clinical research teams. The objectives are met for the current year and need priority attention for intervention. Audience This book is intended for practicing physicians and research scientists. All the authors have outstanding credentials and are skilled in providing a disciplined and consistent approach to their topics, meeting the needs of the audience. All the articles have been peer reviewed and are within three years of publication. Features The book reviews the social determinants of health directly impacting children in the United States. Fundamental is the pervasive race-based medicine that has been evolutionary, with race-based approaches to the delivery of clinical care creating a 400-year legacy of inequities. Race is a social construct and has no place in biology. However, in the current healthcare system, the statistics look different and expose racism as a social construct. Maternal mortality for non-Hispanic Black women is 44 deaths/100,000, 2.5 times more than non-Hispanic white women. American Indian/Alaskan Native women are 2.3 times non-Hispanic white women. African American children have 3.4% times odds of dying within 30 days after surgery and 18% relative odds of developing postoperative complications. The best aspects of the book are the Policy Statement, The Health Impact of Evictions, Institutional Racism: A Key Contributor to Perinatal Health Inequity, and Structural Racism and Autism. The Policy Statement, "The Impact of Racism on Child and Adolescent Health," is the first article and should be mandatory reading for all pediatric providers, teachers, and community leaders. It makes maximum use of the data and encourages full participation of society to promote safety of children by accepting personal and institutional responsibility to confront the tough issue of racism and discrimination. The last article, "Structural Racism and Autism," is one of the shortest articles but a must read, focusing on the inequities African American children face with delayed diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder compared to white children, and a greater risk for intellectual disability because of this (44% African American vs. 22% non-Hispanic white). The excess of intellectual disability in African American children with autism needs to be further investigated. Workforce capacity is also a major problem with only 2% of neurodevelopmental or developmental-behavioral pediatricians who are African American. The only shortcoming of the book is the lack of research about the racial bias in the diagnosis of ADHD and learning disabilities in children who are minority or economically disadvantaged. Assessment This book gives an outstanding foundation for novices to experienced clinicians in any field interacting with children and families. There are multiple risk factors for children outside of the brick-and-mortar schools and clinics: the pervasive social determinants of health. Children are resilient; however, in our society there are multiple disparities in basic needs (housing, food, and education), which require immediate attention. In some communities, there exist institutional biases that place a low-risk, full-term minority fetus at higher risk of injury, infection, and death compared to his/her white peers. These need critical attention to infrastructure, policy, and personnel. In all settings, such as behavioral health, there are not enough providers and African American children are being diagnosed three years later than white peers with autism spectrum disorder and experience a delay in essential intervention. The consequence is a higher rate of co-morbid intellectual disability. Sexual minority adolescents are two to three times more likely to report suicidal ideation and plan and attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers, with an onset of suicide behavior of 10 years. There is a lack of screening, providers, and intervention to reach this critical population that is at greater risk of suicide attempt. There are no compatible books that have a compilation of peer-reviewed research and clinical insight into the stark and persistent racial disparities for children in 2022. This book tackles the hard issues, effectively uses the influence of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and takes a leadership position to problem solve, such as exposing flawed mechanisms like the racial differences in postoperative outcomes in apparently healthy African American children. In summary, this is a timely and excellent collection of articles. Review Questionnaire Range Question Score 1-10 Are the author's objectives met? 10 1-10 Rate the worthiness of those objectives. 10 1-5 Is this written at an appropriate level? 5 1-5 Is there significant duplication? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 4 1-5 Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 4 1-5 Rate the authority of the authors. 5 1-5 Are there sufficient illustrations? 5 1-5 Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations. 3 1-5 Rate the print quality of the illustrations. 3 1-5 Are there sufficient references? 5 1-5 Rate the currency of the references. 5 1-5 Rate the pertinence of the references. 5 1-5 Rate the helpfulness of the index. 5 1-5 If important in this specialty, rate the physical appearance of the book N/A 1-10 Is this a worthwhile contribution to the field? 10 1-10 If this is a 2nd or later edition, is this new edition needed? 10 ©2024 Doody Enterprises, Inc.